Building Brand Advocacy Through Relationship Marketing of Mobile Financial Service Recipients in Bangladesh

Abstract

The mobile financial services (MFS) industry in Bangladesh serves as the study's context. This study aims to examine the association between brand advocacy and relationship marketing components. Bangladesh's economy has significantly improved and has made steady progress since gaining independence in 1971. The nation has seen a shift in financial services due to economic expansion, including retail banking, SME banking, agent banking, and the most recent Mobile Financial Service (MFS) with the blessing of technological development. This MFS is also going through an unconventional expansion phase. This industry has clearly been showing promising and steady growth. This MFS sector is increasing parallelly with the nation's economic growth. Establishing an enduring relationship with clients is the core aim of relationship marketing. In recent decades, this idea has gained much attention from academics and has emerged as a novel phenomenon in service marketing literature. According to the theory, keeping current clients is more accessible and more profitable than finding new ones. However, little research has been done on implementing relationship marketing to attract new clients. The main goal of this study is to determine how relationship marketing may develop brand advocates. In response, a theoretical framework based on the SOBC model and social learning theory has been developed in this thesis to investigate how relationship marketing affects brand advocacy. This model incorporates nine constructs, and to comprehend the relationships between those constructs, it establishes 22 hypotheses. The explanatory sequential mixed-methods (QUAN-qual) approach is used in this study designed to accomplish the objectives. 404 MFS clients were chosen by systematic random sampling technique from six upazilas in Bangladesh as a sample for the quantitative study. Both online and offline questionnaires were used to gather data. A pilot study with 46 MFS clients was conducted to test the validity of the questionnaire prior to the final survey. The structural equation modeling method based on partial least square is implemented to analyze the direct relationships presented in the research model. Results confirmed 16 out of 19 hypothesized relationships that were proposed. The PROCESS macro for SPSS is used to evaluate indirect relationships. The results demonstrated that brand loyalty has a significant mediating role between relationship marketing constructs and brand advocacy. Following the quantitative phase, a qualitative method is employed to support the findings of quantitative study. 11 in-depth interviews in the qualitative phase are carried out following a semi-structured interview schedule. Qualitative data is analyzed using NVIVO software. The initial analysis of the qualitative data validated the indicators and constructs included in the theoretical model and provided a rationale for the observed relationship between constructs in the theoretical model. There are significant theoretical, methodological, and practical implications to this research. The results point to two important conclusions: first, the relationship marketing phenomena directly relates with brand advocacy, and second, this relationship is significantly mediated by brand loyalty. The study's findings expand the body of knowledge on relationship marketing and provide valuable insights into various aspects. The study's findings also suggest that MFS companies can gain dual advantages by implementing relationship marketing strategies. By prioritizing client retention, MFS companies can effectively acquire new clients. This thesis can now be a starting point for additional research projects to deepen our understanding of relationship marketing.